Line Develops At U.S. Amateur To Handle Slow Play Penalty Mediations!**

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If only I was joking. Guess 7,700 yards and brick greens rolling 13 on the Stimp isn't meshing with the pace-of-play guidelines.

Sean Martin writing for The Onion Golfweek:

There were times Monday that groups had to wait outside the tent as the group ahead of them appealed penalties.

Four groups did not complete play Monday, as the final groups were on pace to play in nearly 6 hours. In all, 12 players were given one-stroke, pace-of-play penalties at Chambers Bay. Three players at The Home Course, the other layout for stroke play, were assessed three penalty strokes apiece.

Mike Davis, the U.S. Golf Association’s senior director of rules and competition, estimated that 50-70 penalty strokes for pace-of-play have been given at the U.S. Amateur since the USGA’s checkpoint policy was adopted for the 2006 U.S. Amateur.

Well at least the golf course didn't get away from them...

“We really did feel that somewhere between 2:30 and 4 o’clock today, it just got too firm on us,” Davis said. “Really well-struck shots were ending up in places that the player wasn’t being rewarded for. In the last 4, 5, maybe 6 hours of golf today, it played firmer on the greens.”

Craig Hill tells the story of Nick Ellis and his group missing three of four timing checkpoints, resulting in penalty shots.

“It’s an unfortunate thing,” Ellis said. “They (USGA rules officials) obviously didn’t see the situation the right way.”

The USGA requires golfers to be no more than 14 minutes behind the group in front of them at checkpoints after the fourth, ninth, 13th and 18th holes.

Ellis was particularly upset that his group, which included Michael Brown of Pennsylvania and Tevis Upton of Georgia, was told to mark balls on the green on No. 4 to allow the group behind them to play up in order to alleviate congestion. While they waited the group ahead of them started pulling away.

USGA rules official Jeff Hall said Ellis’ group was less than 14 minutes behind after the fourth hole and should have been able to stay within that window.

“Is the process perfect?” Hall said. “No. No pace of play policy is perfect, but this puts the onus where it needs to be (on the players).”

Ellis’ group was 24 minutes behind after the ninth hole and they were given a warning. They were 31 minutes behind after the 13th hole and were told they’d receive a 1-stroke penalty.

They were given an additional 2-stroke penalty after the 18th hole when they were 16 minutes behind.

Despite making up 15 minutes, Hall said the players could have done more.

“I’m looking for effort,” said Hall, who watched Ellis’ group for the final nine holes. “I didn’t see anybody consistently try to drag the others along.”

Hall said he wanted to see players running between shots, selecting their clubs faster and playing out of turn if needed to improve the pace.